Metaplasia — A Transdifferentiatlon Process that Facilitates Cancer Development: The Model of Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia

Abstract
Metaplasia, in general, and intestinal metaplasia, in particular, are transdifferentiation processes triggered by environmental aggressions. The heterogeneity of different morphologic variants of metaplasia and distinction from close morphologic entities—heterotopia and hamartoma—is reviewed. Recent data on the characterization of the molecular and epidemiological data involved in the development and progression of lesions of gastric intestinal metaplasia are discussed. A redefinition of intestinal metaplasia is proposed.

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